The Brisbane Hustlers gay rugby team are set to make their return to the field this September, competing in the Purchase Cup after a five year hiatus, with plans to enter a team in the local Brisbane competition next season.

Hustlers' vice-president Aaron Fleming told QNews that the team's reformation was progressing at a fast pace, and while they are still looking for new players, the nucleus of the team has already began to form.

“We are definitely looking for more players,” Fleming said.  “At the moment we have about a dozen guys who are keen and have experience. Anybody is welcome to come down to training and have a run and we can teach people as much as we can. We want to be able to cater for everybody, experienced or not.”

“We've had so much enthusiasm from everyone we have talked to in the community, and great support from the Queensland Rugby Union, as well as support from local businesses.”

Fleming explained that the team will play in both gay and straight competitions, and says the reaction from the rugby community towards a gay team has always been very positive.

“We play against straight teams and each year we play in a gay competition against Sydney and Melbourne as well as every two years we are hoping to play in the Bingham Cup which is an international gay rugby tournament,” Fleming said.

“There was occasionally the odd homophobic comment form an opposition player, but when you have a team behind you it tends to fire you up more than anything. I can remember one occasion that some of the older players were talking about where a player made a couple of homophobic comments were made on the field and his team almost walked out on him.”

Anybody interested in becoming involved is encouraged to visit the Hustlers website www.brisbanehustlers.org or searching for Brisbbane Hustlers on Facebook.